The Hiding Amaranth
by Jennifer Perkins
Summary: A new, powerful female mutant is located, and the X-men convince her to stay at the mansion. Wolverine befriends the new mutant but it isn't long until their friendship blooms into something more. All is peaceful for a while, until Magneto intervenes.
1. Chapter One: Think of Me

**The Hiding Amaranth**

Chapter One: Think of Me

"Come on, Emma, we're going to be late" Scott called through Emma's bedroom door. He looked down the hall, to where the stairs were and thought he heard light footsteps, but when he went for a closer look, no one was there. "What ya looking for?" asked the blue, devilish-looking Kurt Wagner. "Kurt!" Scott yelled with surprise and irritation, "you really shouldn't sneak up on people like that, it's very rude".  
"Lighten up, Scott" said Kurt "you seem really on-edge, I was just having some fun" he said apologetically.  
"Yeah, you're right" replied Scott "I'm just a tad bit annoyed at how long its taking Emma to get ready for the Bayview High Reunion, I really didn't want to be late for it"  
Suddenly, the door opened, and Emma stepped into the hallway looking very svelte in a white mermaid dress with matching heels. Her long blond hair was pulled back with a barrette, accentuating her cat-like face. "Sorry I was taking so long, Scott, this make-up doesn't do itself you know. All you have to do is throw on a tux, which looks just perfect on you by the way; I love how it emphasizes your shoulders." Scott turned to say good-bye to Kurt, only to realize that he had vanished once more. The two then linked arms and proceeded through the hall-way and down the sweeping staircase to the grey marble foyer where they met up with Professor Xavier.  
"Hey Professor, we shouldn't be out too late", said Scott.  
"Ok, but before you go, Scott, be on the look out for anything unusual. I've been sensing a new mutant close by, one with great power. Emma, if you're close to the mutant, I'll let you know".  
"Very well then, Charles" replied Emma  
"We'll keep our eyes open." said Scott as he and Emma walked out between the heavy, carved, wooden doors. Once they arrived at the school, Scott opened the passenger door of his dark blue Mazda. He helped Emma out, like a "perfect gentlemen" would, and escorted her to the school gym, where the main function was being held.

Once inside, Scott was relieved to know he was early, so he took the time to catch up with some old school-mates and teachers. He forgot completely about the new mutant that the professor had warned him of.  
"Everyone please be seated" the principal spoke into the microphone as everyone was sorting themselves into the rows of plastic chairs.  
"Welcome back, class of 1997!" The audience applauded "We have arranged a special show for you tonight, featuring some of your class mates and the teaching staff, many of them I am sure you will recognize. Our first act for tonight, a girl I'm sure you all remember, with her trademark dancing, Jessica Palmer!" and out stepped the nimble-bodied brunette, twirling away on the stage.  
Scott resigned himself to watch his class mates display their talents and his teachers making fools of themselves.  
When the last act was introduced "And now, I would like to introduce your old music and biology teacher to the stage, come out Miss Amaranth Cullen!" announced the principal.  
As Miss Cullen walked on stage, Emma whispered to Scott "Wow, she looks really young, she looks like she belongs in the class of '97, not someone who taught them" Scott noticed that she was right, Amaranth Cullen looked not a day older than when he saw her last, 10 years ago.  
There was no wrinkle whatsoever on her pale, translucent face, and where she should have started growing gray hair, there was nothing but waves of mahogany-brown.  
He listened and watched closely as Miss Cullen sang her somewhat operatic song, with perfect pitch and tone. He had never heard anything like it, it was simply indescribable, so perfect, so beautiful, he wasn't even listening to the words, just the voice singing them.  
Then the song ended, Scott sighed as he felt it had ended far too soon and the night carried on, with everyone socializing in the well decorated gymnasium. Balloons were everywhere, confetti was all over the floor, and someone had ended up bringing silly-string to the occasion.

While Scott was chatting away with some of his old friends and teachers, Emma suddenly received a telepathic message from the professor.  
_Emma, I'm sensing the new mutant not too far from where you are right now, I'm feeling a power-spike - take Scott with you and make sure no one is hurt - hurry_ Emma dashed to her date's side and said hastily "The professor is sensing a power-spike in the new mutant, and it isn't far from where we are now".  
"Ok, did he say in which direction the mutant was? Can you sense it close by?" asked Scott, almost panicking  
"No, but it isn't here, otherwise I would have sensed it immediately, I think it's just outside the gym, near the stage entrance, that's where I'm getting a signal from" Emma replied, very quietly.  
"Sorry guys, I gotta go" Scott told the people he was conversing with earlier. He and Emma quickly left the gym. They looked to their right, where the stage doors were, and they were horrified to see a man recumbent on the linoleum floor, impaled by what looked like a stake made from a living mass of solid vines, almost wooden in appearance.  
"The mutant", said Emma, in a worried tone. "We were too late".  
"Don't panic," responded Scott "We'll just have to go back to the mansion and make the Professor aware of the situation; he'll know what to do." They pulled the man off of the stake and laid him on the ground. Scott used his optic blast to cut the vines from their place in the ground, so no one would suspect a mutant. "Call 911, I think he might still be alive, but we have to leave him here for the paramedics, and go now" suggested Scott. Emma called for an ambulance from her cell phone to attend the scene, and then they left quickly to return to the mansion.


	2. Chapter Two: Nemo

**The Hiding Amaranth**

Chapter Two: Nemo

Scott and Emma arrive back at the mansion "Sure you didn't run enough red-lights, Scott? You could have gotten us killed!" exclaimed Emma, as they hurried through the double doors and into the foyer where they saw Professor Xavier wheel into the room.  
"What's wrong, Emma? I picked up on yours and Scott's stress not too long ago, are you alright? Did you find the new mutant?" asked the professor.  
"No", replied Scott "but we have reason to believe that the new mutant is a plant manipulator". Emma added  
"We found a man impaled on a giant vine"  
"Calm down, Emma" the professor ordered. "It's obvious what we must do, we have to locate this new mutant before anyone or the mutant itself gets hurt. Scott, go find Ororo and Logan, they should prove useful in tracking down the new mutant."  
"Got it, professor" and as Scott left the room and took the elevator into the sub-basement, he couldn't help but wonder who of his classmates or teachers which he had known for so many years had managed to stay a mutant in private for so long.

Robot drones came at Wolverine in masses, and each one fell with only a few slashes of his Adamantium claws, not even breaking a sweat, he thought smugly. Slash! Went his claws through one drone, and as the drone-producing machine readied itself to let out another ten robots, wolverine looked down at his beaten foe and quirked "bub, you're a mess." After almost a hundred drones and he felt ready to take a hundred more; the danger room seemed to get easier every time. His merciless onslaught of the drones was called to a halt, however, when he heard that ever-so-annoying Scott call out to him from the control room.  
"Logan, we need you"  
"Get lost, boy-scout, I'm busy" Wolverine yelled at Scott over the multiple clangs and bangs of the broken and breaking machinery.  
"The professor wants you, not me. Now get out of there." Scott called back and left.  
Grudgingly, Logan (Wolverine was his codename, used mostly in combat) left the Danger Room and met up with Scott, Ororo, and the professor in the foyer.  
"Ok, X-Men-" started Xavier when Kurt appeared out of thin air once more.  
"You didn't think you all would go on a mission without me, would you? I'm so hurt" Kurt announced with sarcasm "I was wondering when you would show up, Kurt" replied the professor "Now, X-Men, we must locate a new mutant who has already injured a human, and may very well do so again. We have reason to believe that the mutant is a plant manipulator; I sensed that the mutant was also very powerful, but whether or not the mutant knows this is impossible to tell. Take the SR-71 Blackbird; I'll update you on the mutant's location once I confirm it using Cerebro."  
And with that, the professor and the X-Men went into the sub-basement where the professor went into Cerebro and the X-Men went into the hanger to start up the Blackbird.

Storm took the pilot's position whilst Cyclops buckled himself into the co-pilot's chair. "Ororo, I'm normally the pilot" Cyclops said to Storm, slightly irritated  
"I know" replied Storm "I thought it was time for a change, it's been a long time since I piloted the Blackbird" Cyclops mumbled something incoherent in reply and began getting the aircraft running. Wolverine sat behind Storm and Nightcrawler behind Cyclops, without any complaint.  
Not long after the Blackbird was steady and in the air when the X-Men all received the same telepathic message from the professor saying "Using Cerebro, I have located the mutant, who appears to be female. She has headed north-west, around three hundred kilometers from where you are located, it shouldn't take long to find her, and I'll let you know when you get closer to her".  
A few minutes passed and the Blackbird wasn't too far from its destination when Nightcrawler asked "So, she's a plant manipulator, any idea how we're going to capture her if she's so violent?"  
"She can fight all she wants", Wolverine replied. "There's four of us and one of her. I don't think we'll have too much trouble in overpowering her and taking her back to the mansion" Storm was listening and decided to intervene.  
"Maybe she will come willingly, violence doesn't solve anything" Then Cyclops backed up Storm.  
"Yeah", he agreed. "We might just be able to persuade her into coming back with us to the mansion- wait, what's that?" Cyclops gestures out the windshield "Has that forest always been there?" The others looked closely at the approaching unnaturally tall trees.  
"I know of that species of tree, except, they don't grow anywhere near that tall", remarked Storm. "I don't know of many trees that grow to be over 10 storeys tall", Wolverine commented with amazement.  
Suddenly, they all received the same message from the professor "X-Men, you are approaching the new mutant, now would be a good time to land".  
Storm prepared to land the Blackbird "Hold on team, this could be a rocky landing".  
"I knew I should have piloted" Cyclops mumbled then Wolverine replied with  
"Quit your whining, one-eye" as the aircraft lowered to the ground with great difficulty finding space between the trees, sometimes scraping against some. Then, out of nowhere, they heard a loud groaning, scratching noise "Hey watch it Storm, I'm sure the Blackbird costs a lot more than the professor can afford to get fixed with a smile on his face", exclaimed Cyclops. "It wasn't me" Storm snapped. "Something's got a hold of us, I can't get out of its grip, we're going to have to shut down the Blackbird and take a look outside".  
Storm pressed the button to lower the ramp which was towards the back of the jet, only to find that it was jammed shut. "Something must be blocking the ramp. Nightcrawler-"  
"I'm on it" replied Nightcrawler eagerly, and he grabbed the others at the speed of light and before they knew it, they were all standing on top of their aircraft. They surveyed the damage of their SR-71 Blackbird, the pride and joy of the X-Men, and their only mode of transportation. It had what appeared to be large wooden roots holding it firmly in the air and slightly crushed. "Oh boy, Professor X won't be too pleased about this" said Cyclops with a slight look of worry on his face. "The plant-manipulator probably did this, I say we find it and rip it to pieces" said Wolverine with his claws out, preparing for a fight. "Calm down, Wolverine" Storm soothed. "You do not know the extent of her power, so we must be careful, but first we need to get to the ground. Can you see the ground, Nightcrawler?" Storm looked over at her furry blue companion.  
"Ja. Hold on everyone" and Nightcrawler grabbed hold of everyone once more and teleported them to the ground.

The first thing they all noticed was how the ground was somewhat spongy, and the grass on it was a beautiful emerald-green, unlike wild grass which doesn't really grow in such thick forests. "Mein Gott, the trees look like skyscrapers from here" Nightcrawler noted as the X-Men took in their surroundings, looking for any immediate danger. The light filtered through the thick leaves, giving the area a slight green tinge, the air was completely still, and smelt so wooden. There was a peculiar feeling about this forest, and all of the X-Men picked up on it, though the forest was perfectly tranquil and serene, there was a distinct feeling of loneliness tainting the air.  
"This place must be like what the Garden of Eden was like, minus the animals. It's so quiet here" noted Nightcrawler.  
"Well, we better start looking for the new mutant, but where should we start? This forest is so big; it wouldn't be too difficult to get lost" Cyclops added. Wolverine mumbled something incoherent and suddenly, they all received another telepathic message from the professor. "X-Men, I checked with Cerebro again, the new mutant is exactly north of where you are now, so be careful"  
"Hehe, right when you need him" Wolverine remarked about the professor.  
"Yes, he is very helpful. Now, we must split up, each heading north, so as to cover more ground, everyone have their ear-pieces in?" Storm asked.  
"Ja", was Nightcrawler's chirpy reply.  
"Mine's in", said Cyclops and Wolverine simply nodded.  
"Good, we will all meet up back here at 12pm, which should give us a few hours at most to look for the new mutant, if it takes that long".  
And so, the group headed off, all in the same direction, but 20 or so meters apart, it wasn't long until no one could see anyone who was beside them, as the vast amount of thick trees blocked vision of anything over a meter away.

Wolverine was hacking through the thicket, and soon, he couldn't hear the others making their way through the multiple trees and shrubs. A normal person would be afraid, even feel vulnerable in this forest by themselves, but not wolverine, he was designed by the government to be a killing machine. Any mutant, regardless of how much power they had, would have a difficult time trying to destroy him. As he chopped away at the numerous vines, he heard multiple soft screams that would have been barely audible too the normal human ear. After some more meters of hacking and cutting, he thought he had heard the faint, distinct sound of piano music, but he brushed it off "calm down, Logan, you're just imagining things, this place is so boring it's making you-" he was cut off by the sound of a heavenly female voice, somewhere in the distance, it sounded like… singing. The voice sang of being eternal, lost, and nameless. As he kept walking, the voice got louder. Normally, in this kind of situation, Wolverine wouldn't let his guard down at all, it could be a trap, but there was something about this song and the voice singing it that he sympathized with (though he would never tell anyone that he did), and it made him curious to find the voice. The song got louder and louder, which was a sure sign he was approaching the voice. Then, suddenly, the song stopped. He heard a quick gasp and a rustle of leaves not to far away from him, it sounded like it came from somewhere in the trees. He slashed his Adamantium claws twice more through the vines and branches till he found a clearing. There was one flower, in the middle of the clearing, the one part of the forest where he had seen any light, and it was on this one little flower. The flower had 5 almost triangular petals with another five petals in the center, making a cupped area containing the small stems that create the pollen. Between each of the outer petals there was one stem, a darker shade of the light pink the outer petals had. The way the sun glistened on this flower, making it shimmer and glow, was so magical, Wolverine felt himself slowly walk towards it. He got down on one knee, stretching out one of his muscular arms to pick the flower when he suddenly heard a shriek.

"No!" a voice shrieked in panic, and before he could look to see who it was, a body jumped down from the trees. She was tall and statuesque, with wave mahogany-brown hair reaching halfway down her back. Her face has high cheek bones and a small slightly pointed nose. Her lips were a light, soft pink and her skin was pale and translucent. But it was her eyes that captivated him, her deep blue eyes, with a vividness that he had never seen in human eyes. He jumped back with a fright at how suddenly this beautiful woman had appeared in front of him brought out his claws reluctantly in preparation for battle. "Please, stay away from that" the woman gestured towards the flower, fear etched into every feature of her delicate face.  
"Why" growled Wolverine.  
"I... I can't tell you, just please stay away from it and take your leave." The woman replied both with fear and sorrow evident in her small voice.  
"So, why do you live here?" Wolverine asked huskily, though he had a hunch he already knew the answer  
"it's easier this way" the woman answered.  
"You're a mutant, aren't ya?" Logan asked and the woman nodded "well, I know of a place where mutants go to, to learn how to improve control over their powers and on the odd occasion, fight some bad-guys. It's run by Xavier, a professor and mutant himself, he was the guy who sensed your power sent me and my team to find you, and ask if you would like to join a force we like to call; the X-men" Wolverine offered to the woman as she nodded and he talked some more of Xavier's school and the X-men for what felt like a few minutes more. Then he was interrupted when he heard Storm's voice in his earpiece "Logan, it's time to go, the others and I are already heading back, have you had any luck in finding her?" Storm asked, Wolverine excused himself for one moment and replied to Storm "yeah, I found her, I think she's keen to come back with us to the mansion" he looked over to her and saw her nod her head eagerly and smile "yeah, she's coming with us" he said, the corners of his lips slightly creeping upwards.  
"Good, hurry back" Storm replied and switched her earpiece off. Wolverine turned back to the woman "that was one of the X-men called Ororo, but her codename is Storm, we only really use our codenames when we're on a mission. So, you ready to leave?" Wolverine asked the woman "just one moment" she replied and approached the flower in the ground and plucked it from the ground with all its roots and placed the rooted end on the left side of her upper chest, and the roots buried themselves in her flesh without any blood, then the stem followed, so all that was left was the flower growing out of her chest. Wolverine just stared in wonder. He had never seen a mutant who could fuse themselves with plants. "can you do that with all plants?" he asked with amazement he tried to hide.  
"no" she replied with a smile "just this one" they headed for the edge of the clearing where wolverine had entered when the woman stopped "I forgot to ask, what's your name?" she asked  
"Logan, codename; Wolverine" he replied.  
"so what do I call you?" she asked. It took him a few seconds to reply.  
"Logan" he said with a small smile playing on his lips. "What's your name" he asked  
"Amaranth" she replied.


	3. Chapter Three: Home

**The Hiding Amaranth**

Chapter Three: Home

Wolverine and the new found mutant, Amaranth, made their way through the unnaturally tall trees back to the Blackbird when they a BAMF! They suddenly caught the stench of brimstone and Nightcrawler appeared "Hallo there Wolverine!" Nightcrawler chirped excitedly "ah, so you did find her, well isn't she a looker?" Nightcrawler looked Amaranth up and down with a cheeky grin, liking what he saw.  
"Keep your eyes in your head and clean up the drool, elf, have some respect" Wolverine snapped  
"My name is Kurt Wagner" Nightcrawler continued, more reserved this time, bowing to Amaranth politely "but in the Munich Circus, I was known as the amazing Nightcrawler!" He added proudly.  
Amaranth felt flattered and introduced herself "my name is Amaranth" she said shyly offering out a hand which Nightcrawler shook eagerly. The three of them walked on through the path wolverine had made on his way through.  
"So" started Nightcrawler "these trees are pretty tall" he noted, not quite knowing what to say to block the awkward silence. "Thank-you" Amaranth replied, feeling just a tad bit proud. Nightcrawler gawked at her, mouth gaping-open in shock, whilst Wolverine just stared at her with amusement and a slight smile.  
"You made all these trees grow taller?" Nightcrawler asked with what almost looked like fright  
"not quite" replied Amaranth, feeling slightly smug "the trees were not here before" she added with a smile.  
"Are you gonna show us what you can do when we get back? We can train together and I'll show you what being on the team is all about" offered wolverine, looking for a challenge "if you want me to," replied Amaranth, "but don't expect me to go easy on you" she responded with a smirk  
"wouldn't have it any other way" replied wolverine, feeling positive about the whole situation.  
"Ooh, wolverine's got a girlfriend, wolverines got a girlfriend" Nightcrawler chanted.  
"Keep it up elf and ill cut out your heart and force-feed it to you" Wolverine threatened, feeling a slight bit embarrassed.  
Then, suddenly, BAMF, a cloud of smoke and the off-putting smell of brimstone all happen at the same time and Nightcrawler is somewhere else. "Wuss" wolverine mumbled and Amaranth giggled.  
It wasn't long until they reached the Blackbird, Amaranth stared at it with awe "wow, what kind of jet is that?" she asked in astonishment "that is the x-jet" Cyclops called out from behind one of the over-sized vines gripping the aircraft "a severely damaged x-jet" he added, sounding irritated.  
"oh no!" Amaranth wailed, worriedly "I'm so sorry!" she called out to Cyclops "that was my doing, but I didn't mean to, I can't always control it" she ashamedly admitted.  
And with that, another root appeared out of the ground, right under Amaranths feet and lifted her up to where Cyclops was attempting to hack at the plantation holding the blackbird with his optic blasts. Amaranth then focused all her energy into the vine and it immediately withdrew itself from the Blackbird and slid back between the trees, the x-jet was barely damaged at all, just a few dents and scratches that wouldn't be too much to worry about for repairs. "Sorry about that, Scott" Amaranth apologized to Cyclops.  
Then he looked towards Amaranth and suddenly his lids appeared to have vanished from his face all together. He recognized the wavy locks of mahogany-brown hair, the light skin, the well defined cheek-bones. "Miss Cullen?!" he said surprised "you're a mutant?!" he noted, rather shocked  
"and you never were the brightest of students, Mr. Summers" she said and both she and wolverine laughed.  
"Storm, why don't you come down and introduce yourself to our new friend?" Wolverine called out to where Scott was standing before and Storm emerged, flew over the Blackbird and landed right in front of them "I am Ororo, my codename is Storm, you have a wonderful forest, Amaranth, perhaps when we get back, you would like to see my garden?" Storm offered "That sounds just lovely, Ororo" Amaranth perked.  
Suddenly, the ramp into the Blackbird lowered to reveal Nightcrawler at the control panel, "I can't remember if the Blackbird came with a remote-unlocking system" Nightcrawler grinned.  
The X-men and their new companion boarded the x-jet and started buckling their seat-belts, Wolverine noticed Amaranth fiddling with the unusual buckle, she was only used to strapping herself into a car, not an SR-71 Blackbird. So he got out of his original seat next to Nightcrawler and knelt in front of Amaranth, though she didn't notice. She was fussing with the buckle so much, then his hands touched hers and she froze. It felt like shocks of electricity shot up and down her spine and tingled all through her body as he gently moved her hands and buckled her in.  
Her sudden rigidness didn't go by unnoticed, Wolverine heard the short, sharp intake of her breath, saw her whole body freeze as their hands made contact, and he was flattered as well as bit excited. He shot her a cheeky smile and buckled himself in next to her. All through the flight back to the mansion there was nothing but silence. Ororo let Scott pilot, so as not to put up with his childish bickering again, Kurt was looking forward to dinner, and Wolverine and Amaranth spent the flight shooting quick, subtle glances at each other, every time Amaranth looked at wolverine, he caught her, and vice versa, smiles evident on the faces of both parties.

The two were so involved with each other that they didn't notice the blackbird had landed until Ororo, Scott and Kurt started walking out of it. Amaranth and Logan then quickly undid their seatbelts and joined the others.  
They met up with the professor in his office where he greeted Amaranth. "Hello Miss Cullen, I am Professor Charles Xavier, and I guess you could say I am the principal of this institute for mutants such as yourself and am the leader of the X-men" the professor started and at the same time sent all the x-men a telepathic message _you can leave us now, I would like to talk to her alone, thank you_. They all took the hint and left subtly.  
"How do you know my name" Amaranth asked, half worried. "I sensed some mild distress in Scott, so I read his mind to make sure he wasn't in any trouble. As it turns out, he wasn't distressed at all, just very shocked when he realized who you were, his past music and biology teacher in high school."  
Amaranth was slightly scared of this man who sat before her in a wheel-chair who had the ability to read minds, but he had a kind face and seemed very sincere, so she continued being sociable. "So, you read minds?" she asked, very intrigued "can you read mine, please?" she wanted to test this professors skills,  
"I prefer not to read minds of friends and colleagues" the professor insisted, but Amaranth was persistent so he eventually agreed "hmm, strange" the professor mumbled then said louder and with more clarity "your mind is a lot more blurred than any mind I've ever seen, I can see vague glimpses of… Logan? But it is all so unclear" he finally gave up. "Amaranth, I would like to test your DNA later, would you let me, please?" he asked politely,  
"what for?" she asked, slightly concerned that something may have been wrong with her head  
"I just want to see if there is something about your mutation that is blocking my view of your mind" he assured  
"sure, ok, but maybe later, I'm a bit tired" she replied, then yawned.  
"ok, I must let you go to bed now, I'm sure tomorrow will be a busy day for you" he said with a smile and added "Logan will escort you to your room, he is standing right outside this door, I sent him a telepathic message telling him what room you have been given"  
"thank you Professor" Amaranth said gratefully and walked out the door and saw Logan waiting for her, just as the professor had said he would.  
He chuckled slightly and they started walking "of all the empty rooms in this mansion, the boss in there decided yours would be next to mine" he stated, feeling slightly giddy on the inside, but careful enough not to let it show  
"do you have a problem with that?" Amaranth asked playfully  
"nope, not at all" Logan replied, and it was the truth.  
"looking forward to that training session tomorrow?" Logan asked, eager for her response  
"sure" she replied "but I think once we're done, you will be the one who needs more training" she added cheekily, and after another stair-case full of comfortable silence, they were at her bedroom door.  
Amaranth opened the door and turned to Logan "goodnight" she said sweetly  
"night" he returned "I'm right next-door if ya need me, and if anyone gets on your nerves, I'll be more than happy to teach them a lesson" he added.  
She giggled and closed the door, walked over to her bed, collapsed and instantly fell into a deep sleep.


	4. Chapter Four: Fun and Games

**The Hiding Amaranth**

Chapter Four: Fun and Games

Amaranth awoke to find herself in a room that felt completely alien to her.  
It didn't take long for all the previous days' happenings to come back to her as she gazed around her settings, taking note of every little thing without even realizing it. It felt as though the room was designed for her, she loved all the dark cherry wood furniture, the dresser and its stool not far from her bed, the chest of drawers, the desk at the window, even the closet door. She was too busy looking around her to notice the man sitting on the couch at the opposite side of the room.  
"Pretty sweet, isn't it?" she looked over toward Logan "Welcome to the X-Mansion; headquarters for the x-men and home for all mutants" Logan stated proudly.  
Amaranth giggled "thanks, but why are you in my room?" she asked,  
"to make sure you don't get lost, the mansion is a big place, you wouldn't be the first one who ended up in the library in search for some coco-pops" he said with a slight chuckle.  
"Oh, well I'll be ready in a minute, I just need to get changed" as she realized she was only wearing the tattered remains of her evening dress from the reunion "Ororo gave you some of her clothes to borrow, we didn't find anything when we went back to the forest" Logan informed her.  
Amaranth then walked to the closet to find it was full of clothes that would have no trouble at all in fitting her frame. She picked out a pair of embroidered jeans and a floral short sleeved top. "This is the part where you leave" she blushed slightly "oh, right, I knew that" he said as he made his way out of her new bedroom.  
She got changed and headed out into the hallway to find Logan there, waiting for her. He looked her up and down subtly, enjoying how that top hugged enough at her slim waist to really show-off her curvaceous body. His brief fantasies were interrupted when she spoke "Uh, are you gonna show me where the kitchen is?" she asked with what he now noticed was a somewhat musical soprano voice; beautiful.  
"Uh, yeah, right this way" he replied, embarrassed; she must have caught him staring at her - making goo-goo eyes.

As they walked down the stairs at the end of the hall, they noticed how oddly quiet it was. "Aren't there any more mutants in this mansion?" Amaranth inquired,  
"Yeah, usually, mostly kids though and they'd all be in classes right now" Logan answered.  
They continued down some more stairs, reached the main foyer, all with that same comfortable silence  
Walking through another hall, Logan stated "I hope you're hungry; I guess you could say we are over-stocked on cornflakes" Amaranth sighed slightly "I don't eat" she replied  
"you're not one of those anorexic girls, are you?" Logan looked her up and down to see any extra-thinness about her  
"no, not at all, its part of the mutation, I don't need to eat, so I usually don't"  
"oh, so I guess you're all ready to start some training then" Logan smirked  
"you bet your soon-to-be-kicked ass I'm ready" Amaranth challenged.  
"Well, don't we sound confident" Logan remarked "let's see how long you can last in the danger-room with me" he said as they made their way into the elevator into the sub-basement.

Just as they were about to enter the danger room, Logan asked "You can use the spare uniform for now if you want; till the professor can organize something more custom-made"  
"no, that's ok, i sorta have my own gear to change into" Amaranth replied as something under her clothes started moving. She then took her clothes off to reveal a leotard with skirt made completely from leaves. "Nice suit" Logan commented, liking all the extra-skin the suit showed. "I'll meet you in there" he said as she walked through the metal doors.

Amaranth stood in the large, metal room, for a room referred to as the 'danger room', it looked completely tame.  
Then, suddenly, something under her legs gave way underneath her and she was caught between the metal tiles that made up the floor. Less than a second after she has become stuck, she sees a navy-blue figure dash right above her and then there are sharp, shiny blades at her neck.  
"Babe, if this was a real-life situation, you'd be done-for." Wolverine teased  
"Not at all" Amaranth exclaimed coyly, thick vines growing from beneath her slowly pushing her upwards and out of the trap "I was just getting started" she replied with a devilish grin as she took a quick breath in and two vines shot out from opposite ends of the danger room, on either side of Wolverine, he quickly jumped out of the way and laughed smugly  
"Ha! It will take more than that to get me down" he called to her from the other side of the vines as he slashed at the vines in front of him, he made a quick tackle at her, but she dodged it just as quickly, spun around and pulled some leaves from her costume, sharp as razors and threw them at him like shuriken. He dodged all but one, which lightly sliced though his arm. Surprised at the cut, he stopped for just a second to inspect it, but a second was all Amaranth needed, and out shot another two vines which twisted themselves around Wolverine tightly.  
With his arms pinned to his side, he couldn't slash his way out. Amaranth ran up to him and said in a playfully mocking tone "Babe, if this was a real-life situation, you'd be done-for." She quickly pecked him on the cheek and jumped back, in preparation for when he would break free. It didn't take long for him to break the vines, as his claws were not his only weapon; it was all muscle work, and for Wolverine, it was all to easy.  
"heh, that the best you got?" Wolverine challenged once more, preparing for another attack when through the doors Nightcrawler and Cyclops appeared in full costume.  
"We saw the fun and decided we wanted to join in" Cyclops said  
"Yeah, some tag-teaming never hurt anyone, right? the two of us verses you guys should be no trouble at all" Nightcrawler teased "no trouble at all" Amaranth mimicked with a smirk and the same vines that had caught Wolverine before shot out at Nightcrawler and held him for only a brief second when BAMF he has disappeared and re-appeared right behind her and kicked her in the in the lower half of her spine.  
Amaranth attacked with the vines once more, except this time with a plan, as soon as Nightcrawler disappeared, she knew he would re-appear right behind her, and he did, but she was ready, she spun around and shot another thick ended vine right at him which this time, instead of tying him down, hit him hard and square in the jaw. While this battle continued, the one between Wolverine and Cyclops had just started.

Cyclops fired his optic blasts, a predictable move which Wolverine dodged easily, he then rugby-tackled Cyclops to the ground. Cyclops, now under Wolverine was about to use his optic blasts again "oh no you don't" Amaranth called to Cyclops, then he felt something grab him from behind. He was lifted in the air and Wolverine released his grip and started his onslaught on the cheeky Nightcrawler.  
Cyclops noticed that it was another thick vine which had suspended him in the air with its grip getting tighter; he used his optic blasts to cut the vines and landed where Nightcrawler had suddenly appeared "OW, man, watch where you're falling!" Nightcrawler complained. "well if you weren't there, I wouldn't have landed on you, idiot!" Cyclops shot back. Amaranth and Wolverine laughed together at their opponents bickering. Then from the control room, the professor called out to the battling mutants "having fun are we?" he asked, glad than Amaranth was fitting in with no problems.  
"I know I am, professor" Wolverine grinned  
"Now, now, Wolverine don't be too rough. Amaranth, I'd like to see you in my office, we need to discuss your test results." Amaranth sighed "guess I better get going, try not to have too much fun without me" Amaranth shot Wolverine a playful smile and made her way out of the danger room "oh I wont, see ya later" Wolverine called to her, and jumped at his two opponents.

* * *

_Authors note;  
Yeah, this took a while to update - to be honest, i actually lost interest in writing it and forgot to post all the remaining chapters.  
BUT as i was editing the remaining chapters, i started getting inspired to keep going with the story, so i think i will. :)  
Some reviews would be appreciated (and would persuade me to keep writing), and thank you for reading my story thus far!_


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